What is IntelliDev?
IntelliDev watches how you code — not what you code.
It silently tracks your typing rhythm, error patterns, context switching, and session length, then turns those signals into a real-time cognitive load score from 0–100. When that score climbs too high, it tells you to step away before burnout sets in.
No accounts. No cloud. Your code never leaves your machine.
🧠 How It Works
IntelliDev samples four behavioral dimensions continuously while you work:
| Signal |
What's measured |
| ⌨️ TYPING |
Rhythm, variability, backspace rate, pauses between bursts |
| 🐛 ERRORS |
Compilation error frequency, burst detection, debug session count |
| 🔀 CONTEXT |
File switch frequency, rapid switches, unique files touched per window |
| ⏱️ SESSION |
Total time coded, deep work blocks, idle ratio, night-time activity |
These feed a 20-rule scoring engine across all four categories. The result updates in real time — no polling delay, no background processes calling home.
📊 Score Levels
Your cognitive load score sits on a spectrum with clear, actionable guidance at every stage:
0 ──────────── 30 ──────────── 60 ──────────── 80 ─────── 100
│ │ │ │ │
│ 🟢 STABLE │ 🟡 MILD │ 🟠 HIGH │ 🔴 RISK │
│ FOCUS │ STRAIN │ LOAD │ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ You're in │ Consider a │ Take a │ Stop. │
│ flow. │ short break. │ 10–15 min │ Rest 30+ │
│ Keep going. │ │ break. │ minutes. │
│ │ │ │ │
0 ──────────── 30 ──────────── 60 ──────────── 80 ─────── 100
🎯 Personal Baseline
Generic thresholds are unfair. A naturally fast typer looks "overloaded" to a dumb threshold. Someone who prefers coding at night gets flagged every evening. IntelliDev fixes this.
After 10 sessions of coding, IntelliDev locks a personal baseline calibrated to your individual patterns using Pearson z-scores:
- 📌 Scores are relative to your norm, not a population average
- ⚡ Fast typers are not penalised for high KPM
- 🌙 Night owls are not flagged unfairly for late sessions
- 🔄 The baseline auto-recalibrates every 30 sessions as your patterns evolve
During calibration, the dashboard shows rule-based estimates with a progress bar so you always know how far along you are.
🖥️ Dashboard
Open the IntelliDev panel from the activity bar. Everything you need is in one place.
| Panel |
What it shows |
| 📊 Live gauge |
Current cognitive load score, updated in real time |
| 📈 Score trend |
Score history across all your sessions |
| 🧩 Category breakdown |
Typing, errors, context, and session contributions |
| 🔴 Error density |
Error rate spikes and peaks over time |
| 🔀 Context switching |
File switch frequency and rapid-switch patterns |
| 🎯 Deep work vs. idle |
Focus blocks compared to idle time per session |
| 🗓️ Heatmap |
Cognitive load patterns by time of day |
| 📅 Weekly and monthly |
Period comparisons with delta highlights |
| 🔔 Alert history |
Full log of every alert, with timestamps and scores |
🔔 Alerts
IntelliDev fires VS Code notifications when your body needs a signal your brain is ignoring.
| Trigger |
Alert |
| Score ≥ 60 |
🟠 Overload warning |
| Score ≥ 80 |
🔴 Burnout risk — shown as an error notification |
| 2+ hours continuous |
⏱️ Long session warning |
| After 10 pm (15 min+) |
🌙 Night coding alert |
All alerts respect a 5-minute cooldown so they never spam you. Night alerts use a separate 30-minute cooldown — nobody wants to be pinged every five minutes at 11 pm.
Alert timestamps always reflect your local timezone, including on Windows machines where the VS Code extension host can default to UTC.
🔒 Privacy
IntelliDev was designed from the ground up with privacy as a hard constraint, not an afterthought.
✅ Cannot read your code — The VS Code API used (onDidChangeTextDocument) provides typing metadata only. It is technically incapable of capturing source code content.
✅ No filenames or snippets stored — Session files contain only numbers. No file names, no code, no personal information.
✅ Fully local — Everything runs inside VS Code. No external servers, no network calls, no background processes.
✅ Auto cleanup — Session files older than 90 days are automatically deleted.
⚙️ Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
intellidev.alertThreshold |
60 |
Score threshold for overload alerts (0–100) |
intellidev.dataPath |
(empty) |
Custom path for session storage. Leave empty to use VS Code's default global storage. |
⏸️ Pause Tracking
Click the pause button in the IntelliDev sidebar title bar to stop tracking during a meeting or break. Click play to resume. The status bar always reflects the current state.
🗂️ Data Management
All data lives on your machine. The dashboard gives you full control.
| Action |
What it does |
| 🔄 Reset baseline only |
Wipes the calibration and restarts it, keeping all session history |
| 🗑️ Delete all session data |
Removes all local files and resets calibration |
| 💥 Full wipe |
Deletes everything and generates a new anonymous identity |
Every action requires a confirmation step. There is nothing on a server to contact or revoke.
📦 Installation
VS Code / Cursor / Codium
Search for IntelliDev in the Extensions panel, or use the install buttons at the top of this page.
Open VSX — VSCodium, Gitpod, and compatible editors
Available on the Open VSX Registry. Any editor that supports Open VSX can install IntelliDev directly from its Extensions panel — no manual steps needed.
Requirements: VS Code 1.85 or later. No additional runtimes or dependencies.
